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There is a long list of mobile handsets that have added new dimensions in the world of wireless communication. Today, the demand is much higher for the best quality multimedia touch phones with advance functions like digital camera, internet browsing, internal hard-drive, accelerometer, virtual keyboard, and so on. With this increasing demand, the need for mobile application development services is also increasing to a great extent.

What are mobile applications?

Undoubtedly, mobile application development has become the main focus of software development companies nowadays. That is why mobile companies come out with a new application that can be installed on mobile phones what seems like every other day. They do this to make programs more compatible and convenient for people to use on a daily basis. Thanks to the latest technological advancements, we have a wide variety of platforms for these mobile applications like Android and iPhone.

How mobile applications can help you:

A large number of mobile phone handsets have been sold, and just as high is the number of mobile applications that are also being bought every day. If we talk exclusively about Apple products, the iPhone has set itself apart as a mainstay in the technology market by establishing its image as the best smart phone among other devices of communication. iPhone applications are extremely effective, and Apple is making billions not only for themselves, but for modern businesses today as well. These applications are not only very useful in keeping customers up-to-date with the latest technology hacks, but they also let their users enjoy their experiencealong the way.

Examples of mobile applications:

Some of the latest mobile applications allow the mobile users to:

easily surf the Internet,

listen to music,

multitask,

entertain themselves,

organize their lives,

play high-tech games,

get where they need to go with a GPS,

take beautiful photography,

online bank with ease,

conveniently reserve a flight,

and so much more.

The possibilities for mobile applications are endless, and it takes the right developer to create the most useful ones.

Want to create a mobile application for your business? Let our team over at Triveni IT make your software dreams come true!

The digital world is expanding, data sets are increasing, and the complexity of this data is growing, too.

It’s becoming more and more difficult for users to handle their work without making huge mistakes. Similarly, several terms have been considered obsolete recently to make it easy for users to optimize their work. One term on this list is big data. Our team of experts at Triveni IT provide full guidance to help you handle your large data with the help of big data services. In this post, we have given an introduction to it, along with some more information on it so you get a detailed but brief lesson about big data and its uses.

What is big data?

Big data are data sets that are larger and more complex than normal data sets. A data set is considered “big data” if it is greater than 50 TB in size. The usual data application processes that may be applied to these sets won’t work on big data because of their size. These sets are analyzed to reveal various patterns and trends that may occur, such as the social media posts you send or the kinds of devices that these posts come from. The exponential growth of technology has also bolstered the growth of this data at an alarming rate, so much so that it is getting hard for developers to keep track of it all.

Tip: In layman’s terms, “big data” is a fancy keyword for big size data sets. Users are able to handle them more intelligently and smoothly when categorized in this way.

Triveni IT specializes in handling huge data sets with big data. We are serving almost all different kinds of industries with our services. We aim to help them in analyzing, interpreting and handling their professional data precisely, something that was initially too difficult to be handled.

How big data can help you:

The benefits of big data far outweigh the negatives.

In the business world, it has become possible to easily handle and segregate data for hassle-free work with the help of big data. Big data has helped the world of business intelligence with easy separation of data into two easy categories: transaction dataand
interaction. The former collects data concerned with events like logistics and online shopping, and the latter collects data of interactions. Big data has made it possible to conveniently handle the vast data-filled present day.

You can use big data for the improvement of your company’s product and service that you are offering. This can help your business in outperforming your competitors. You can increase your market share, grow your operating margin and profit your return on capital that you have invested. You can also analyze your product or service, the customers who are using it, their recommendations for your product, and improvements as well.

Enterprises big and small can use big data with the help of cloud computing. You can take advantage of this service from professional IT professional companies like us at Triveni IT, and we will help you with everything you and your business need to succeed. You can also use big data to find more about your customers, their likes, dislikes, preferences etc., which will help you and your business form the right strategies and marketing schemes to attract the maximum number of customers to your franchise.

We are always available as your information technology partner and you are welcome 24/7 to contact us and get more information on this and other IT needs of yours.

Has everyone forgotten about the Waterfall method? It’s a classic IT methodology that has its advantages and disadvantages, just like any other. It once was the dominant software development method when software teams worked together for years, if not decades. Now that everything has changed, with teams fluctuating continuously, the Waterfall method has become forgotten, neglected, or even considered obsolete. Let’s look and compare both the Waterfall and Agile development methods to see if Waterfall is still relevant in the modern IT world.

What is the Waterfall methodology?

The Waterfall methodology is a design process that works in sequential increments to complete a project. Once a step has been completed, it cannot be gone back to, so it is imperative that the design team in charge of this project heavily plans out the steps beforehand. There can be no errors or changes made once the project, using this method, is set into motion. The process must be documented as well so that every step is accounted for.

There are many benefits to using this method to develop a piece of software, the best being that the client is informedabout how long the project will take and what will be completed when. Each developer is also heavily informed about the projects and the steps that need to be taken in order for it to succeed.

This method also has a lot of downfalls, which may be the reason it is not used as much anymore. One of these is that if the initial requirements are incorrect, or if any error is made along the way, the project must be started over. Another huge flaw in using this system is that testing can’t be done while being developed and can only happen once the system is complete, which could lead to many bugs going undetected.

Why did the Waterfall method become obsolete?

One of the reasons Waterfall was overshadowed was because of the dynamic nature of modern IT teams. In the past, development teams were together for many years, which is perfect for the Waterfall method. Also, there were fewer software development projects in the world in general, fewer programmers and fewer opportunities to use communications for projects. IT specialists weren’t dispersed all over the world and were usually concentrated in one office, which made the scope of work more manageable. The Waterfall method worked great in those circumstances because everyone was in one area to take part in the project.

A global trend has started today. Anyone in any country can begin a startup using IT specialists from any country or company, and those specialists can move from project to project all the time. Now, developers change jobs quickly and freely. They aren’t tied down by social benefits and pension funds, so they can move from company to company, or go freelance. Development projects are now carried out by teams less experienced in working together because the teams change all the time. Therefore, specialists need to be flexible and adjust how they work within these teams.

A requirement of using the Waterfall method is creating a project assessment in terms of money and time. When the team that will work for the project is unclear, it is impossible to make the correct predictions based on those criteria.

What is the Agile methodology?

The Agile method works in phases to accomplish a project over a certain period of time. Developers will create a primary version of the product that the client can use, and over time, increase its complexity by adding new features to it. The features can be tested while the system is running its previous version, and launched as a part of a software’s iteration.

A huge advantage of the Agile method is that bugs can be easily found and corrected on the spot before moving into more complex versions of the program. Clients can also assess the progress of their software during these different steps and can add their input to it as the software grows in subsequent steps.

Agile welcomes change and uncertainty.

Agile is more flexible, and allows for less specifics and more uncertainty, with risks managed better. When Waterfall was the more commonly used method, information wasn’t traveling as fast and the markets didn’t change as rapidly. Today, depending on the industry, weekly or monthly changes happen, so tweaks and alterations to the development process are inevitable, and the end product can turn out to be absolutely different from what it was planned as. In a year, changes to the industry can be drastic; flexibility becomes paramount, especially with longer projects. Agile is the perfect method for that.

Where stability reigns, Waterfall still works wonders.

Agile is best developed for products where change happens all the time. For example, if a social network is planned for a guitar player, it may end up being developed for general music or vocalists in a few years’ time, who may become more popular by the time the project is completed. Obviously, not all industries are affected by such uncertainty. Some global industries don’t depend on mass marketing for success are still stable with no market fluctuations. Examples include industries such as oil and gas, steel, space, and so on. In such projects, there is more time to understand what is needed for the software, and the changes made aren’t global or critical. The project of sending a satellite off to space, for example, will have the same goals in two years that it does now. The Waterfall method was born in the construction and manufacturing industries, where changes to the initial plans would be catastrophically expensive, if not impossible. Waterfall still works well in those projects, and it should be used more in those settings.

Waterfall is also perfect for projects where the initial product vision
doesn’t change during the life cycle because these spheres are strictly regulated (by the government, for instance). In the healthcare industry, for example, the project of creating databases for medical clinics will have stable requirements because the industry doesn’t change in essence. In that case, Waterfall fits the mold. But if a medical institution were to develop a mobile app for its clients to look up services and book appointments, Agile would be the path for those developers to take. The nature of the product can therefore affect the choice of methodology.

It’s difficult to envision the end product using the Waterfall method.

Since a working model is not available until late in the project using the Waterfall method, using the software created is impossible in projects where the client wants a working prototype of the product early in the development either to still gather requirements or to make changes to the initial plan. The Waterfall method is also a poor choice for those developers who may make mistakesalong the way. It is nearly impossible to go back and correct something using the Waterfall methodology. If a stage has gone wrong, there will be problems in the next stage. Therefore, longer, more complex, object-oriented projects work better using the Agile method.

What does the future for these methods hold?

The world of information technology has rapidly changed. Measuring effectiveness of teams, cultivating motivation and responsibility is very important, and the Agile method works better to meet these new needs. However, it is clear that the Waterfall method is here to stay and will still be implemented in a number of projects, where the goals of the project are perfectly suited for the method’s core philosophy. At the same time, the Agile method will be used more in environments where business values, product vision and markets change quickly.

Whatever the future of your product holds, there’s a method to the madness for your future software development. If you ever have questions about these development methods in the future, contact us and we’d love to answer them.

Have you or your company used either of these methods to develop software? Which worked best? Let us know in the comments below!

In the last post, we discussed the stages of building an app. It starts from an idea, but it can grow into a sketch, an interaction flow, a wireframe and a mockup, all the way into product development. Theoretically, this process looks organized and predictable, but only on paper. In reality, there are many variables in the equation, and some of them can and do go wrong. Many mobile app projects are started every day, but only a handful of those are a success. In order to minimize chances of failure, it’s important to know what roadblocks may hinder development, how to harmonize form and content, and what basic do’s and don’ts you have to keep in mind when entering a mobile app design project.

MOBILE DESIGN ROADBLOCKS

Lack of Visualization
When wireframes and mockups are not enough to provide visual support for product approval, an elaborate prototype is built to demonstrate the future app. Developers assess it and comment on the technical and financial side of the design. After the prototype is changed according to the requests of all key players, designers start making the end variant of the product.

A prototype can be built at any stage of design. An earlier stage can help avoid endless alterations, save time and cut design costs.

Overdose of Opinions
When making an app as an independent entrepreneur, the approval of any other party may be irrelevant. But on a project that involves other players, it’s vital to cut down the number of decision-makers.

If the company decides to involve their staff, the number of reviewers with the right to veto design decisions should be limited to persons who have a clear vision and profound understanding of project goals. Opinions provided by staff should not drive design; design is determined by the business concept, creative idea, app purpose and platform design guidelines.

Access to Backend
Designers should have full accessto the future mobile app backend infrastructure to make informed decisions. With corporate apps, designers have to find a perfect balance between corporate philosophy and the app purpose, as well as platform requirements.

Multiple Devices in Android
When it comes to the notorious number of Android devices, platform guidelines advise building visually stunning apps that look good on all devices. But how? Android suggests solutions like flexibility, optimizing layouts, providing resources for different screen densities, etc. One strategy is to start with a base standard and scale up or down for other buckets; another is to begin with the largest screen and scale down. Android provides detailed guides on multi-pane layouts, designing for multiple screens and building dynamic UI with fragments.

New platform versions, new device versions
Let’s take the highly anticipated iOS8, coming to the general public in autumn 2014. Changes in iOS8 may be divided into consumer (group messaging, private browsing, additional camera features, iCloud drive, Health app, Family sharing, Siri improvements) and developer-specific (widgets, extensibility, Touch ID API, third-party keyboards, home automation APIs, metal graphics system for detailed 3D graphics, and possible new iOS hardware). The Apple Store will also undergo a number of alterations (app bundles, preview videos and a new beta test service). Besides getting new developer tools, designers and developers will have more freedom – a new move for Apple. Right now designers may find themselves in limbo since iOS8 is only available for beta users. That is the challenge of waiting for the actual product while dealing with rumors and previews.

Balancing Form and Content
Designs should never be overthought. Good design is the design you don’t notice, a result of cutting the unnecessary elements, and leaving only self-explanatory parts of the app.

With iOS design, it is essential to balance the technical and aesthetic aspect of Apple Store requirements with company vision, marketing purposes and target audience tastes. iOS8 is again a combination of clean minimal icons and transparency effects with succinct content.

Android guidelines on form and content are similar: a good app is a combination of beauty, simplicity and purpose. Users should be able to grasp features intuitively, and effects should be subtle. Android likes their content brief, with short phrases and simple words, using images to explain concepts whenever possible.

Surface is ultra modern and minimalist, also trying to cash in on form familiarity (old Windows applications and well-known icons).

All in all, platform store requirements are rules designers should abide by.

The do’s and don’ts of good mobile app design

Don’t design copies of top apps.
These projects don’t succeed because there are already popular apps on the market.

Don’t overembellish the app.
Designers can follow a simple rule: one visual compliment on a page or section. The iOS 7 guide on clarity states that the text should be legible, icons – precise and lucid, adornments – subtle and appropriate. Surface apps also look clean, and Android always voted for simplicity.

Do use business analyst and developer wisdom.
Developers and business analysts are a great source of information for designers. Developers can point designers in the direction of existing successful apps, relevant knowledge centers, resources for customer feedback and reviews.

Do make honest project estimations.
Sometimes it is better to estimate a longer time period and finish the project before the deadline, rather than be rushed with a subpar result.

Do stay informed.
Mobile design is a dynamic field of IT where technologies change constantly. New products also mean new technical possibilities. In order to keep up, it is crucial to stay educated by subscribing to relevant blogs and joining professional communities.

Apps can’t be successful without attractive, intuitive and user-friendly design. This is something that distinguishes one app from countless others. Multiple factors determine the success of a well-designed app, including deep knowledge of platform guidelines, business requirements, company brand and vision, and target audience expectations.

A mobile app design’s primary purpose is to appeal to consumers and enhance their life. Apps should speak to users without words, and a good designer should make the app not only crisp and clear, but also eloquent and self-explanatory.

Do you agree with our do’s and don’ts? How do you avoid mobile design roadblocks? What’s more important, form or content? Add your comments below, and share your opinions on the topic with us.